“They’re almost diametrically opposed, now.”
“Mandoran wants it to be known that Annarion was against this from the very beginning.”
“Which means he wasn’t?”
“He says, ‘What doyouthink?’”
“I think it’s irrelevant. Having talked with Terrano a bit more, I think most of the planning was done closer to Alsanis. Sedarias?”
She grimaced briefly before composing her expression. “We wanted power in order to retrieve Teela. We did not mean to abandon her.” Sedarias winced. Teela clearly had a word or two to say about that. “You know what we intended. You were there.”
“It wouldn’t have worked.”
“We wouldn’t have known unless we tried.”
Terrano lifted his hand. “Could you all speak in Barrani? I don’t understand more than half of what you’re saying.”
“Sorry—they learned it from Teela,” Kaylin said quietly. “And they know I am much more comfortable speaking Elantran.” She made the effort to speak in Barrani. “We need to know what you taught them.”
“We didn’t teach them how to walk into Ravellon and walk out again, carrying one of its occupants.” Sedarias exhaled. “Terrano was the best of us. Mandoran was next, but he was not Terrano’s equal. Terrano had a map of the interior layers of Alsanis, and even when those layers shifted, he could still see their edges in the new locations. He was capable of circumnavigating the Hallionne, by the end—he could leave. We could not.”
Kaylin nodded; this much she knew from personal experience.
“Understand that we had given up on our kin, just as they had—long since—given up on both us and Alsanis. We understood that the Dreams of Alsanis—the eagles—had become blighted nightmares. We did not desire Alsanis’s destruction.”
“You didn’t care about Orbaranne.”
“Not as much, no. We could not speak True Words. Ah, no. We could not speak them into being, the way the Ancients could. We could recognize them, and we could—with effort—manipulate their shapes, but never enough. But we understood the theory: they are Alsanis. They are the Hallionne.”
“They aren’t all of the Hallionne!” Kaylin replied. She then flushed and repeated the words in Barrani.
“No. There is some core, some essential sentience, at the heart of the Hallionne; it is why they all differ. And it is irrelevant. If that core drives the Hallionne, if they command the power that resides within, they are nonetheless dependent on the shape of the words themselves for the almost limitless power they access within their own walls. I do not believe that the intent of the intruders was to destroy Alsanis.”
“You think they were here to destroy you.”
“Yes.”
“You specifically.”
Serralyn said, “That is not relevant.” Which Kaylin took as a yes. Sedarias glared at Serralyn, who fell silent but obviously begrudged it. “The intruder was my older sister.”
“The intruder you killed?”
“We have perfect memory, Lord Kaylin; you do not labor under that burden. But yes.”
“Did Teela tell you that someone tried to assassinate her?”
Silence.
“...I’ll take it that’s a no.”
“She’s not happy with you,” Eddorian said. “And yes, we knew something had angered her, and we had a few guesses. Teela doesn’t like to share when she can avoid it.”
“She can’t avoid this.” It was Bellusdeo who spoke.
“No. I believe she understands that. Mandoran says she has moved in with you, but adds, ‘unfortunately, she brought Tain as well.’”
“More like she couldn’t ditch him.”
